


Double Double Toil and Trouble

by shadowglove88



Series: Champions Series [4]
Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Smallville, Supernatural
Genre: Blame Magic, But freaking weird, Crack, Everyone has gone crazy, F/M, M/M, Magic Made Them Do It, Not exactly an apolocalypse, magical hijinks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 14:18:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15865323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowglove88/pseuds/shadowglove88
Summary: They were all expecting an apocalypse...THIS really wasn't what they had in mind. For no explainable reason everyone in Smallville is acting insane...and Chloe and Clark seem to be the only ones unaffected.





	1. Chapter 1

Chloe took a look at the scene in front of her, stepped out of the house, and closed the door. Bringing a hand to her head she rubbed her forehead, wondering if she might be hallucinating-maybe even still be asleep—but a pinch to her arm proved that she was very much awake and now with a sore arm.

Taking in a deep breath, Chloe opened the door once more and entered.

The scene hadn't changed.

That was when she was sure that she'd woken up in a different dimension.

It was the only explanation she could find to having walked in on  _this_.

Taking out her phone she dialed Sam, who was at  **Books N Mayhem** , dealing with the latest order of books that had arrived.

"Hey babe." Sam's voice sounded cheerful. "What's up?"

"Is it raining frogs and mice where you are?" Chloe asked, looking outside the window at the sunny day suspiciously.

"Um, is that a trick question?" Sam asked, amused.

"No silverware wooing furniture or anything like that?" Chloe pressed.

"Are you feeling alright?" By now Sam sounded worried.

"I'm not sure." The blonde turned to the sight in front of her, checking herself for a fever. "I think I may have entered another dimension—but if I have, I've got  _great_  reception on this cellular."

Sam chuckled. "What makes you think you've stepped into another dimension?"

"Is the sight of Mrs. Kent making out passionately with her own reflection enough?" Chloe asked, watching as Clark's mother pulled away from the hand held mirror long enough to tell it how  _gorgeous_  it was before plastering her lips against it once more.

"Huh?" Sam choked.

"Mrs. Kent?" Chloe ignored him, taking a cautious step towards the redhead.

Martha Kent looked up at Chloe and blushed. "Chloe! It's so good to see you! I want you to meet the love of my life!" She pointed to the mirror. " _Me_!"

"Did she just say that?" Sam asked, able to hear everything going on.

"Uhm, gee, Mrs. Kent." Chloe blinked, not exactly sure how to respond to that. "That's uh,  _great_. But, uh, what about  _Mr._  Kent?"

"Jonathan?" Martha asked, waving that off. "He's gone to live with Nell Potter. Good riddance. Now I can fill this  _whole_  house with mirrors. Isn't that  _wonderful_?"

"I'm calling Wesley," Sam announced, hanging up on Chloe.

The blonde put away her phone, smiling weakly at Martha. "When did all of this happen?"

"This morning." Martha's gaze returned dreamily to her own reflection, fluffing her hair. "Don't I look  _divine_?"

"Celestially." Chloe nodded, deciding that it was safer for her to just agree with the older woman. "Um, Mrs. Kent-."

" _Martha_ , call me  _Martha_. I'm not with Jonathan anymore." And she said that while smiling at her own reflection.

"Uhm, yeah,  _Martha_." Chloe cleared her throat. "Have you tried any new product lately? Cologne? Drink? Anything made in Smallville or that was suspiciously  _green_?"

"No, nothing new." Martha frowned, looking at a wrinkle on her face as if it'd offended her personally. "I just woke up and realized that I'd been untrue to myself all these years. Jonathan realized the same thing as well, and we parted ways. We're both happy."

Yep.

Alternate dimensions.

 _Had_  to be.

"Did you have a reason for coming here?" Martha asked, not unfriendly.

"Um, I came for the books I left here after the meeting last night, but that's okay. I'll get them later."

"Okay then." And then Martha Kent ignored her, baby-talking herself. "Who's the most beautiful woman? Who?  _You_  are! Yes you are!"

Backing out of the home slowly, Chloe closed the door behind her and hurried to her car, not stopping until she'd driven towards Nell Potter's home. She needed to see if Jonathan Kent was  _really_  there, and he  _was_ , kneeling on the porch, crying out to Nell Potter, who was peering out at him through the curtains in the window as if he were crazy.

Which, he really looked as if he  _were_.

"Nell!" Jonathan cried, pulling at his hair. "Take me back! I love you! I never stopped!"

"Jonathan Kent! I will call your wife if you don't stop with this nonsense!" Nell Potter called out, aggravated and a little nervous. "Or the sheriff! Whichever makes you more frightened! And my money's on  _Martha!_ "

"Martha knows I love you and she is happy for me!" Jonathan was clawing at the door like a lost kitten begging for sanctuary. "And call the sheriff if loving in a sin-because I'm  _guilty baby_!"

Nell gave a little screech of extreme irritation and closed the curtain shut. "Go to  _hell_  Jonathan Kent!"

" _Nell_!" Jonathan wailed.

Chloe shook her head and drove away.

She wasn't touching that one with a ten-foot pole.

Minute by minute the whole alternate dimension seemed more and more likely an answer to the situation on her hand.

Her phone rang and she was wary to answer it, but when she saw Sam's number she did. "Is it raining frogs  _now_?"

"Not exactly." Sam's voice was cautious. "But you  _might_  want to call your cousin."

Dread filled the blonde as she stopped by the side of the road. "What? Why?"

"I just talked to Wes..." Sam began slowly. "And he's doing his best to keep Lois trapped in the apartment before she can escape to join the Sisters of the Sacred Rose."

"Huh?" Chloe blinked.

What code was he speaking in?

And then she understood, her eyes opening. "A  _convent_? Lois is planning on joining a  _convent_? Of  _nuns?_ " She sputtered, horrified. "She's not even  _catholic_!"

"That's not the only thing," Sam warned. "I just saw Mr. Marx, the dude that always walks his dogs, proclaiming his undying love for them for the whole world to hear."

"Eww." Chloe frowned. "Sam, what the heck is going on? I just saw Jonathan Kent on his hands and knees  _clawing_  at Nell Potter's door proclaiming his undying love. And Martha is only preoccupied with her  _reflection_. Now  _Lois_  decides she wants to become a  _nun_?"

"I don't know, but more and more people are getting affected by whatever it is." Sam sounded like he was flipping a page. "I'm going through some of the occult books Wes has here in the back section of the store, but so far I haven't found anything on any demon or entity that'd do this."

"Keep searching, I'll come help in a few." Hanging up, Chloe continued to drive further into town, the more she saw the more she noticed that people were insane.

Some were dancing in circles, an eighty-year-old woman was walking about flipping people off while wearing a punk shirt that said  _ **Fuck Life and Screw Death**_ , and more and more insane things happened around every corner.

And then Chloe saw Clark.

Stopping the car, Chloe maneuvered around the crazies and made her way to the alien, who was looking around him in relative terror. "Clark?"

Clark looked up at her. "Chloe, what the  _hell_  is going on here?"

The fact that Clark had  _cursed_  proved just how disturbed he was.

"I was hoping you'd be able to tell  _me_." Chloe frowned, looking around her. "Whatever it is, it's affecting the whole town. The only people I know of that it hasn't affected are me, Sam and Wes - and now you."

Clark looked terrified. "I didn't hear Lois' name mentioned."

"She wants to join a convent," Chloe responded unevenly.

" _Lois_  a  _nun_?" Clark choked at the very thought. "But she isn't even  _catholic_!"

Chloe threw her hands up in a 'tell  _me_  about it' kinda way. She looked around her. "Have you seen Whitney? Is he okay?"

Clark's face closed up at the mention of the electricity-controller. There'd been a lot of tension between those two lately, and Chloe sighed, wishing that they would stop acting like two-year-olds.

Then again, Clark  _was_  being somewhat unreasonable.

According to the alien Whitney had been neglecting his duties ever since he'd begun seeing Mellissa Ryan some months back, and Whitney pointed out that he was doing the same thing he always did. And Chloe had to agree with him. Whitney  _never_ put Mellissa before  _anything_. His job at the store, his time hanging out with them, his family, his part in their gang of evil-fighters-it  _all_  came before Mellissa Ryan.

And yet Clark was being difficult about the relationship.

It'd gotten to the stage where he and Whitney had nearly come to blows the night before, with Whitney calling him resentful and jealous because Whitney had a girlfriend and Clark didn't.

Maybe it was true because Clark had just glared angrily at Whitney at the comment and stalked away.

"I haven't seen him," Clark announced icily. "And who  _cares_  if he was affected or not? You know what? I hope he  _was_! I hope he think he's a worm or he decides he wants to live in the mud or something like that."

"And you're not being bitter and resentful at  _all,_ " Chloe muttered under her breath before turning her green gaze on Clark. "You can't  _really_  wish that on Whitney. Despite your problems with each other you are  _friends_ , and I  _know_  you'd be worried if something happened to him."

"Would  _not_." Clark growled, looking around him. "Do I look worried?  _No_. I'm enjoying the chaos." He frowned when he saw a couple of three year olds doing the Macarena. "Okay, that's insane. How do three year olds even  _know_  about the Macarena to begin with?"

Chloe turned to the view and blinked. "They're  _good_."

"And  _synchronized_." Clark agreed.

Chloe's phone rang. She noticed it was Sam and answered it immediately. "Did you find anything?"

"Chloe." Sam's voice sounded odd. "I love you."

She blinked. "I love you too."

"I love you so much," he continued, still in that odd voice. "I want us to be together forever. I worry about our relationship."

Her eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. "I worry too."

"Don't ever leave me." Sam suddenly exclaimed, sounding heartbroken. "Don't leave. I'll take care of you."

"It's gotten to  _you_." Chloe was worried. "Sam, what just happened before you called me? Did you drink anything? Did you see anything? Smell anything? Is it a demon?"

"I'd  _kill_  anyone who tried to get between us," Sam swore very convincingly. "Demon or not. I'd stop the apocalypse for you if I could. And I will! Just don't leave me!"

"Sam, I'm not leaving you." This was becoming very awkward very quickly. "Just tell me baby, what just happened? Why are you suddenly scared that I'm going to leave you?"

But Sam just broke out crying.

Chloe was horrified.

Sam was crying.

About her leaving.

Obviously he was convinced she was going.

But  _why_?

How had this happened?

 _Why_  was this happening?

Was this something to do with the supposed upcoming apocalypse?

She did the only thing she could think of.

She hung up.

Sam rang her.

She cut off the phone call.

He rang her again.

Praying Sam wouldn't do anything  _more_  insane while she was gone, Chloe switched her phone off and turned to Clark. "Whatever it is, it's gotten to Sam."

"This is bad," Clark muttered, grabbing Chloe's hand. "We should find Whitney and see if he's okay."

Chloe smiled.

She'd known that Clark would get over his little snit and worry about Whitney once he realized how things were going.

They headed to the car and Chloe reached for Clark's phone, ringing Wesley, praying that  _he_  at least was still normal.

" _Tell_  me you know what's going on." Wesley sounded desperate.

Chloe breathed out in relief. "You're still normal."

"Chloe?" Wesley asked in surprise. "Why are you calling from Clark's phone?"

"Whatever is happening got to Sam, and he's calling me nonstop about me leaving him," she answered, driving down the street, careful not to run over anyone in his or her craziness. "How is Lois?"

"I have her locked in our room." Wesley was most obviously tired. "The last time I peeked in on her she was kneeling in front of our bed saying her Hail Mary's and Our Fathers-asking forgiveness for the sins of fornication, lust, violence and countless others even  _I_  didn't know she was guilty of."

"Why a  _nun_  of all things?" Chloe wanted to know, intrigued.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Wesley sounded so  _tired_. "I—wait a second." There was the sound of a creaking. "She escaped!  _How_? This is a two-story apartment!"

Chloe groaned as she parked in front of the store Whitney worked at, watching as Clark exited the car and hurried into the store calling Whitney's name.

"You go after her-and be careful. Clark and I are checking up on Whitney."

"Okay, you guys be careful too." And then Wesley cut off the call.

Getting out of the car, Chloe entered the store and watched as Whitney entered the store through the back door, holding a box of shoes he'd been bringing for a client.

"Whit." Clark relaxed when he saw him. "You're okay."

" _Clark_." Whitney smiled when he saw him, going towards the tall alien. "What are you doing here?"

"There's something going on out there." Clark tried to explain. "People are doing the  _freakiest_  things and-." But he couldn't finish because Whiney had dropped the box of shoes and thrown his arms around the dark haired boy's neck, bringing his lips to his and  _kissing him_.

Chloe froze as she realized that the mysterious something happening to people all over Smallville had gotten to Whitney as well.

 _We're too late_.

And then she blinked when she realized something  _else_.

While Clark's eyes were wide and he was frozen in surprise-he wasn't pushing Whitney away as the blonde boy leaned closer into him, deepening the kiss.

If only for a second, Clark's eyes  _closed_.

Chloe's mouth fell open.

And then Clark's eyes flew open and he pushed Whitney away, wiping his hand over his mouth. "What the  _hell_ , Whitney?"

Whitney smirked at Clark. "Think about it. Lana might have been right for once. Surprising." And with that he picked up the box he'd dropped and went to tend to the customer, who was watching him with wide eyes.

Clark was watching Whitney as well with wide eyes and a blush darkening his face.

Chloe blinked.

Okay.

This kinda explained Clark's sudden dislike of Mellissa Ryan.

Did her-was her best friend beginning to have feelings for Whit?

" _Lana_ ," Clark whispered.

Then again, maybe he'd just been in shock.

As always Lana seemed to be the only thing on his mind.

"She might have been one of the few lucky ones to be unaffected by whatever this is." Chloe tried to comfort him, but knowing Lana's luck she probably had an army of lunatics chasing her down at this very minute.

"No-he mentioned  _Lana_." Clark announced, turning to her. "I think we should find  _her_. Maybe she knows something about what's going on."

It seemed like a long shot, but Chloe shrugged and decided that it was the only real lead they had. "Where do you think Lana would be during a moment like this?"

Clark frowned, obviously thinking. "I have no clue."

"Do you still have her number?" Chloe wanted to know, thinking it a stupid question.

"No." Clark surprised her.

"You  _don't_?" Chloe gasped, surprised.

"She changed it after the whole thing with Adam a couple of months back," Clark replied, leaning against the wall of the store.

"Oh." Chloe frowned. "I wonder if Whitney has the new number."

Clark snorted, folding his arms over his chest. "He probably does. She's been coming to the store lately to talk to him."

"Really?" That was news to her. "About what? Is she trying to get back with him?"

Clark shrugged. "I don't know."

They watched as two lovers mimed a fight, complete with the male throwing himself at the girls' feet and pretending to stab his heart with an imaginary knife.

Clark tilted his head to the right as he watched the two silently act out their fight, the female dramatically hurrying off while the male giving a soundless call towards her, rushing after her.

"This is like a bad musical." Chloe made a face. She shook her head and called Wesley once more.

It rang and rang.

It cut off.

She blinked.

And called again.

It rang and rang.

And cut off.

"He's cutting me off!" Chloe frowned, turning to Clark before dialing the number again.

It rang and rang.

And Wesley finally answered. "What do you  _want_  Chloe?"

"Have you caught up with Lois?" She asked, surprised at his harsh tone.

"She ran off to join the convent. Boo Hoo." Wesley announced. "I'm not wasting my time on someone who wants to dedicate herself to  _God_ and such nonsense.  _Angel_  went after a girl who wanted to become a nun and his wooing made  _Drusilla_. I will  _not_  be stuck with a Drusilla!"

And then he cut off the phone.

Chloe blinked.

"What is it?" Clark asked, warily.

Chloe sighed and turned to him. "It's just you and me, buddy."

"It's got  _Wes_  as well?" Clark gasped.

Chloe nodded, worried.

Sam and Wes were the smartest of their gang, they knew whatever there was to know and where to find what they didn't. Without the two of them on the team she was going to have to resort to doing things the old-fashioned way.

Searching things for herself.

Before she was the Research Girl of the team, but when Wes had appeared he'd slowly but surely taken that position. He was much better at it than her when it came to all things demonic, and Chloe only applied her hacking skills to the intranets and such he couldn't get into.

But Wes and Sam were the ones with the demon knowledge-knowledge they needed.

"We should go search for Lana," Clark decided, pushing away from the wall. "Maybe she knows what's going on."

Chloe nodded.

As they walked away, unable to drive since the road was now  _filled_ with chaos, she wondered if she and Clark were the only two people in Smallville unaffected.

And if so,  _why_.


	2. Chapter 2

When they found Lana, she was in the Beanery, looking around at the people with scared eyes. Those eyes widened when she noticed Chloe and Clark walking in through the door.

" _Tell_  me you're not affected by this too!"

"By  _what_?" Chloe asked as she and Clark walked around a midget walking on his hands and talking backwards. "Do you know what's going on?"

Lana looked down, sitting down as well. "I might."

" _Lana_ …" Clark sat down. "Whitney just  _kissed_  me. You're going to tell me  _what_  you told him and what you know about this."

Lana's eyes widened. "Kissed?"

"We will  _never_  be able to look at each other  _again_  after this day," Clark assured gravely, leaning over the table. "So you're going to tell me what's going on."

Chloe sat down next to Clark, feeling impressed with his attitude and take charge-ness.

Lana looked down at her hands. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I  _didn't_. I didn't  _know_  the spell was  _real_!"

"Spell?" Chloe asked, frowning.

"This guy gave it to me last night." Lana looked up, gaze pleading for them to believe her. "I was out by myself and he appeared out of nowhere and told me that if I did this spell it'd change my life and make my will be done."

"Your will?" Clark asked.

"I know, I know—but it sounded  _exciting,_ " Lana admitted in utter embarrassment. "I thought it was a joke but I did it anyway. Nothing happened. I was  _disappointed_ and I began just  _saying_  things, angrily. I said Smallville was a  _freak_ town filled with  _freaks_ -and look at this place now!"

Chloe blinked, suddenly getting this. "What did you say to Whitney? What did you think or say about our friends?"

Lana blushed, lowering her gaze. "I ran into Whitney this morning and he realized somehow that I had something to do with this. Said I had a guilty expression on my face. I told him to stop babying me and trying to tell me what to do. That we  _weren't_ going out together and he was suffocating me like Clark used to do." She sent Clark a guilty look before continuing. "Then I said he and Clark would be perfect for each other."

"Thus the kiss." Clark groaned, leaning his forehead against the surface of the counter. "You have him believing we're 'perfect for each other'.  _Great_."

"What about Lois and Wesley?" Chloe pressed on.

"Lois and Wesley?" Lana blinked, eyes going wide. "Is she  _really_ running off to join a  _convent_?"

"So you  _do_  have something to do with that." Chloe groaned, tired. "What did you wish for, exactly?"

"Well, I, uh, I was thinking about Wesley and I thought it'd be nice for Lois to join a convent and for him to be free and ready for love again," Lana admitted, blushing in shame.

" _Lana_." Chloe was deadly serious. "What about  _Sam_?"

"Sam?" And then Lana's eyes widened. "Oops."

"Did you see him after you went to talk to Whitney?" Chloe pressed.

"Yeah, I was looking for Wesley actually." Lana stared down at her own hands nervously. "But Sam was in the store, and I said I only wanted to talk to Wesley but Sam said that I should just 'give it up' and leave Wesley alone-as if I was  _stalking_  him or something." She pouted. "So I told him he should worry about his  _own_  relationship. You could leave him at any time if you wanted and he wouldn't realize it because he was too busy worrying about everyone  _else_."

Now it was  _Chloe's_  time to groan as she joined Clark in resting her forehead against the surface of the table.

"I'm sorry." Lana's voice was soft and repentant. "I didn't  _mean_  for all of this to happen! I only want things to go back to the way they were before."

"Do you still have the spell with you?" Chloe asked.

Lana nodded and reached into her pocket, pulling out a crumbled piece of paper.

Chloe took it in her hand and read it silently.

_Harken all ye elements, I summon thee now. Control the outside, control within. Land and sea, fire and wind. Out of my passions, a web be spun. From this eve forth, my will be done. So mote it be._

"So  _this_  is causing all the trouble." Chloe sighed. "Do you know what the counterspell for it is?"

"Counterspell?" Lana whispered.

" _Great,_ " Clark whined from where he was  _still_  leaning his forehead against the table.

"What about the guy who gave this to you?" Chloe asked, looking up from the piece of paper. "Who was he?"

"I don't know." Lana made a face. "I'd never seen him before in my life."

"You're telling me you took this and performed a spell given to you a by a  _stranger_?" Clark gasped, finally looking up at Lana. "You should know better than anyone else not to do something like this!"

"I didn't think it would really work!" Lana defended.

" _Then why the hell did you do it in the first place_?" Clark snapped for probably the first time  _ever_  at her.

Lana's eyes widened in shock as she leaned back against her seat.

"Down boy." Chloe placed a hand on Clark's chest and pushed him back before turning to Lana once more. "Why didn't you think of anything about me and Clark?"

"I  _did_." Lana pouted. "I thought Clark needed to find a nice girl to settle down with and that you should marry Sam and stop living in  _sin_. People in this town  _talk_ , you know."

Chloe and Clark exchanged looks.

"So we're immune?" Clark asked, before turning to Lana. "Think that I should only know how to speak French or something."

Lana seemed surprised by the request, but took in a deep breath and did as told. "Clark, you should only know how to speak  _French_."

Chloe hoped to  _hell_  that Clark was immune because  _how_  was she going to communicate with him if he wasn't? She didn't know a word of French!

Clark took in a deep breath and spoke. "Hello, my name is Clark-I'm immune."

Chloe sighed in relief. "I'm not going to question this, but since I'm not dying to dress in white and picking out churches and flowers, I'm going to say that I'm immune too." She turned to Lana. "We need to find a counterspell, and since Wes is out of the question…" She paused. "I know what to do."

* * *

 

They'd gone to Clark's loft because it was the only safe place to go. Clark's  _home_  wasn't even safe any more with Mrs. Kent redecorating the place with mirrors  _everywhere._  They'd made a pit stop at Wes and Lois' apartment, and had entered easily since Wes had left the front door open in his haste to get to Lois.

Chloe had found what she was looking for and they'd hurried to Clark's loft, where Lana was sitting on the sofa shivering (she  _had_  been killed here), Clark was looking out of the window, and Chloe was nervously tapping her foot against the floor.

The reason she'd gone to Wes' apartment was because she was looking for his little black book. The one with all his contact numbers. If there was anyone else who might know about spells it would be this Rupert Giles fellow that Wes always talked about and called when he was in a fix.

The phone rang and rang…

And then a female spoke. "Hello?"

Chloe frowned. "I'm sorry, I think I dialed the wrong number."

"Well, actually, this isn't  _my_  phone." The voice sounded cheerful. "Are you looking for Giles?"

" _Yes_ , I am!" Chloe sighed, relieved. "My name is Chloe Sullivan, and I'm a friend of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce's."

"Oh! You're the phoenix!" The girl exclaimed in surprise. "I'm the witch-er-Willow. Wesley told Giles all about what's going on over there and he's told me and the others. How are you doing? Well, obviously something is wrong if you're calling here and Wesley isn't. Oh Hecate. Did something happened to Wesley?"

Chloe blinked. That girl could put down a ramble! "Um, well, you're a witch?"

"Only evil once-don't worry. I'm reformed now and completely un-veiny."

Chloe blinked again. "Uhm, no that's not why I'm asking. It's just that you're actually probably the best person I could be talking to right now."

"Oh. You having problems with an evil witch over there?" Willow asked, sounding intrigued.

"More like an incompetent one." Chloe sighed, leaning against the wall. "Someone gave a spell to a  _friend_  of mine and for some reason she cast it last night. And today everything she says is coming true."

There was a pause. "Everything she  _says_?"

"Yeah." Chloe blinked. "Do you know about the spell?"

"It wouldn't start with  _harken all ye elements_ , would it?" The voice sounded sheepish.

"Yes! It does!" Chloe nodded, pulling out the piece of paper and looking at it excitedly. "So you  _do_  know about it!"

"Do I  _ever_." Willow sighed. "It's called a Force of Will spell, I cast it some years ago and the world went  _insane_  in Sunnydale."

"That's  _great_." Chloe smiled. "It means you know the counterspell."

"Yeah, I do actually. Do you have a pen or something?"

"Hold on a second." Going to the books that she'd left the night before, Chloe pulled out a pen and readied it over the paper. "Okay."

"It goes like this." Willow took in a deep breath. "Let the healing power begin. Let my will be safe again. As these words of peace are spoken, let this harmful spell be broken."

Writing them down, Chloe spoke them back to Willow to make sure they were right. "Okay, so Lana has to say this?"

"If she cast it, then she has to remove it." Willow paused. "Why isn't  _Wesley_  calling about this situation?"

"Well, Lana wanted him to be free to love again, so he's probably around somewhere trying to seduce as many girls as he can-something that Lois will probably  _kill_  him for once she comes back from the convent."

There was a pause.

"That sounds like a day in our lives as the Scooby Gang." Willow sounded wistful.

Chloe smiled, liking Willow. She was  _different_ , like her.

"Did you hear about L.A. yet? Or have you been too busy with the chaos?"

"What happened to L.A?" Chloe frowned, her stomach doing somersaults in fear as she thought of her friends there.

"It's  _gone_."

"Gone?" Chloe's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"

"The official story is that something blew up or something like that." Willow sounded disgusted. "But we know the truth from Harmony, a vampire who escaped before it happened. She said that Angel and the others took a stand against the Senior Partners at Wolfram and Hart and they took their revenge against them by plunging the whole place into a hell dimension."

Chloe's eyes widened. "What? We have to help them! We have to-."

"It's their battle, Chloe." Willow surprised her by saying. "We're all champions chosen to battle the evil around us, they have theirs, we have ours, and from what Whitney's been telling Giles, you have  _your_ first apocalypse coming your way too. You have to trust that Angel, Cordy and the others are strong enough and worthy to bear the title of champions. You need to fight your own fight and leave them to  _theirs_."

Chloe took in a deep breath, knowing the truth in those words and yet still battling the desire to forget everything and head towards what was the remains of L.A. "You're right." She sighed. "They can defeat whatever the Senior Partners throw at them." The blonde then paused before asking: "Any words of wisdom from an apocalypse veteran for a newbie scared outta her wits?"

Willow chuckled slightly. "Stay together as a team. Evil can  _never_  win if you all fight together. No matter  _how_  strong it is."

"Thanks." Chloe smiled.

"Has-has the craziness been  _too_  crazy?" Willow suddenly asked.

"Uhm, yeah. Even for Smallville standards."

"Well, okay, add this line to the spell, after the 'let my will be safe again', part. I made it up myself." She sounded proud as she cleared her throat. "'All the damage now undo, make this day seem anew.' It'll make everyone who was under the spell forget what they've done or that they were bewitched in the first place. It's better for you to do that considering the  _whole town_  is under the spell."

"Thanks Willow!" Chloe grinned. "You're a life saver!"

"I know, I know." Willow laughed. "Call me when things are back to normal again and let me know how it went."

"Sure, I definitely will." Chloe promised. "Thank you again. Bye."

"Bye." And with that Willow hung up.

Chloe did the same, going towards Lana and passing her the piece of paper.

Lana looked at it and shook her head. "No way, I've done enough spells to last me a lifetime."

"The spell can only be removed by the one who cast it." Chloe informed her, eyes narrowed. "You brought this on the whole town, luckily with this spell no one will remember it ever happened."

"They won't?" Clark asked, turning to look at them from the window.

Chloe shook her head. "My gist is that it'll seem like they just woke up. Whatever they've done up till this moment will be blurry like a dream that's forgotten the moment you wake up in the morning."

There was a moment's silence and then Clark nodded. "Okay. That's actually a good thing."

"So  _take it_." Chloe frowned at Lana.

The brunette took in a deep breath and took the piece of paper from her, reading it slowly. "Let the healing power begin. Let my will be safe again. All the damage now undo, make this day seem anew. As these words of peace are spoken, let this harmful spell be broken."

At first there was nothing.

They waited for a thunderclap, a jolt of lightning through the sky,  _something_ , but nothing happened.

"Did it work?" Lana finally broke the silence and asked, voice squeaky.

The sound of the door to the Kent home opened and they rushed to the window to see Martha Kent stumbling out of the house, looking around her, clearly dazed.

"Mom?" Clark called.

She looked up at him, frowning, perturbed. "Clark Kent- _why_  is our house full of mirrors and  _where_  is your father?"

Clark laughed.

Chloe and Lana joined in with relief.

Everything had gone back to normal.

* * *

 

"I was about to take my  _vows_  when the spell wore off," Lois complained later that night as they congregated in her living room. "I can't  _believe_  Lana did all of that! I almost became a  _nun_  because of her. A  _nun_!" She paused. " _I'm not even catholic_!"

Clark and Chloe exchanged amused glances.

"I don't understand why Ms. Lang would take a spell from a total stranger and perform it." Wesley frowned, sitting next to his girlfriend. "Common sense dictates that that isn't the smartest course of action."

Lois snorted, saying something unfriendly about Lana under her breath.

Whitney frowned. "So Lane wanted to join a convent, Wesley began chatting up every girl he came in contact with, Sam became an insecure piece of blubber, Mrs. K fell in love with herself and Mr. K fell in love with  _Nell_." He shook his head. "What about  _me_? What did I do?"

Clark suddenly found his  _nails_  interesting.

Chloe decided to take pity on both boys. "You developed an unhealthy fascination with shoes."

Whitney's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"Yep." Chloe nodded. "You were smelling them and caressing them and-."

" _Shoes_?" Whitney gasped. "I can't believe it! Thank  _god_  I don't remember  _anything_  about when I was under that spell." He shook his head. " _Shoes_."

Clark sent a relieved expression in Chloe's direction, and the blonde returned it with a wink.

Sam noticed it and the look he sent Chloe promised that he was going to get the truth out of her later on tonight.

She just smiled innocently at him.

"But what about the guy who gave Ms. Lang the spell in the  _first_ place?" Wesley asked, fixing his glasses. "Obviously he intended for all of this to happen. But why?"

"I think it was a distraction," Chloe admitted, having wondered the same thing as well. "Someone didn't want us finding out about what was going down in L.A. They didn't want us going to help the others. They wanted us  _here_."

"Question is…" Sam frowned. " _Which_  side wanted us here."

"Good question." Clark nodded. "Sure the spell caused chaos-but no one was really  _hurt_. The PTB or some dark power might have cast it-and we're never going to know."

"Well, we can't let ourselves get played so easily next time." Chloe stood up. "We knew something was going to happen,  _is_  happening, and yet this caught us unawares. We weren't ready for a spell cast by a witch wannabe. How can we be ready for an  _apocalypse_?"

"She's right." Whitney sighed. "We're  _completely_  unprepared."

"If anything, this has served us as a warning. We need to get prepared. We need to be ready." Chloe told them, face serious. "We're  _champions_. And we have an apocalypse to stop. It mightn't happen today, next week, month-hell, the apocalypse mightn't happen until  _years in the future_ , but we have to be ready for it when it  _does_ happen."

Clark nodded. "And we  _will_  be."

"Hell yeah." Whitney agreed.

"No matter  _what_ , we'll do this." Sam stood along with Chloe. "And we'll do it  _together_."

Chloe smiled as Sam said that, placing his arm around her waist, and she remembered the words Willow had told her earlier that day. "We have to grow stronger together as team, stronger than we already are. We're all  _one_ , and evil will  _never_  be able to defeat us if we're together. No matter  _how_  strong it is."

"Here here!" Wesley agreed, the others joining in with him, cheering.

Chloe smiled and leaned into Sam, breathing in his scent. She knew that it was only the beginning of their  _real_  trials and tribulations, but as she looked at the smiling faces of her family and loved ones, she knew deep in her heart that her words were  _true_.

No matter  _what_  evil threw at them in the future, monsters, dangers,  _apocalypses_ , they were going to be fine as long as they stayed together.

And they  _would_.

She smiled brighter and  _pitied_  whatever evil was to come up against them.


End file.
